Thursday, 1 October 2009

Indian Air Force : 2 contradictory news back to back

I read two news on MSN on IAF (Indian Air force). When you read them one after another then only you can actually understand how helpless our system is! And you come to know that how much false confidence we have on our democratic system. How much our leader and army officers lies to just maintain our confidence high. Just read the news and think. One side IAF is saying that IAF is strong enough to defend China threat another hand it is seeking permission from government to open fire on maoists. :) Kudos to Indian system. Even Police can open fire on miscreants who open fire on Police vehicles or on Police assets .

Indian armed forces were humiliated by Chinese forces in a short but bloody war over boundary disputes in 1962.

"We are building up infrastructure, but it is not adversary-specific. It is capability enhancement... There should not be lack of confidence in the armed forces among the public. We are prepared for any eventuality," Naik added.

Naik last month created a flutter when he admitted that the IAF's force level was one-third that of China and thus "inadequate".

He, however, said Thursday that the IAF was taking up big-time infrastructure development along India's border with China.

"Nyoma (airfield) has been upgraded recently. Before that, Fukuche and Daulat Beg Oldie were upgraded. As far as Arunachal Pradesh is concerned there is a plan to upgrade many Advanced Landing Grounds like Along, Machuka, Tuting. Efforts are on to upgrade them.

"Let me tell you this was long overdue and now we have got the go-ahead. So we are undertaking the programme. These (airfields) were already operational under limited resources. The upgradation will take another three-five years," Naik said.

The IAF recently inducted four of its frontline Sukhoi-30MKIs at the Tezpur airbase. Plans are afoot to induct the full squadron.

"We are waiting for the infrastructure to come up (at the Tezpur airbase). The induction has not been put on hold," the IAF chief said.

However, the IAF chief sought to downplay the recent reports of incursions by Chinese forces along the Line of Actual Control.

"There is no spate in incursions. We should not take too much notice of it. They are under surveillance," Naik added.

Talking about capability enhancement, Naik said the thrust is to strengthen four pillars - to be able to see first and farthest, to reach farther and first, to be able to hit accurately and hard, and in the end to protect the national assets during pea]ce and war time.

Source: Indo-Asian News Service

http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3260824

IAF seeks permission to open fire at Maoists, says Air Chief Marshal

New Delhi, Oct 1 (PTI) Committing itself to a greater role in the government's fight against Maoists, the IAF today said it has sought permission from the Defence Ministry to open fire at the Left extremists if its helicopters or air crew came under attack.

"The IAF has sought permission from the Defence Ministry to open fire in self-defence whenever our helicopters or air crew operating in the Maoist-infested areas come under attack," Air Chief Marshal P V Naik told reporters here.

Describing the Naxal attacks on IAF assets and air crew as a matter of grave concern, Naik said: "the Air Force, of course, has a greater role to play in the offensive against Naxals, be it higher reconnaissance or surveillance, troop movement and also for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) .